4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-313136333039 eng dataset Natural Resources Wales (NRW) 0300 065 3000 Maes-y-Ffynnon LL57 2DW enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk pointOfContact 2023-01-27 Gemini 2.2 urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::BNG OGP OSPAR River Monitoring Programme AfA023 OSPAR OSPAR Rhaglen Fonitro Afonedd 2022-11-01 publication 116309 https://naturalresources.wales The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic know as the OSPAR Convention 1998 (Oslo Convention 1972 and Paris Convention 1974), is an agreement signed by a number of European countries (including the United Kingdom) to protect the quality of the North East Atlantic. The objective of the OSPAR Convention is to take all possible steps to prevent and eliminate pollution entering the sea. The OSPAR Convention provides standard methods for estimating the inputs of selected pollutants to the sea by using fixed sampling schedule and a standard input calculation. In Wales, all principal rivers are sampled monthly (12 times a year) just upstream of their tidal limits. For those rivers carrying the heaviest contaminant loads the sampling frequency maybe increased beyond the minimum of 12. Major trade effluents and sewage effluents to estuaries or coastal waters are also sampled monthly to assess direct discharges to marine waters. Flow values of discharges direct to estuary or sea are sometimes provided by the operators themselves. This is usually part of statutory monitoring arrangements. The aim of these programmes is to assess the level of contamination entering the sea from Wales (the 'load') and to chart the progress in the reduction of this load. This dataset contains the results and data obtained from these programmes. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) 0300 065 3000 Maes-y-Ffynnon LL57 2DW enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk owner Natural Resources Wales (NRW) 0300 065 3000 Maes-y-Ffynnon LL57 2DW enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk originator annually Database Environmental monitoring facilities GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2023-01-28 publication © CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and NRW's copyright. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose. otherRestrictions There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely. eng environment ISO3166 Countries 2023-01-28 publication Wales (WLS) -5.77774100 -2.60886500 51.24082900 53.51306700 1998-01-01 2022-09-30 Natural Resources Wales (NRW) 0300 065 3000 Maes-y-Ffynnon LL57 2DW enquiries@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk distributor https://naturalresourceswales.sharefile.eu/d-s90c30d70b014d5da Download dataset https://datamap.gov.wales/documents/2629 Download Data and Web Services dataset The substances controlled under OSPAR are: Mercury, Cadmium, Copper, Zinc, Lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), gamma-HCH (Hexachlorocyclohexane), Orthophosphate, Phosphorous (total), Nitrate, Nitrogen (total) and suspended particulate material. The load of contamination to the sea is measured at over 300 sites around the coast of England and Wales. These sites have been grouped into thirty two coastal zones. OSPAR data is updated annually approximately 6 months through the year for the previous year. Data held ranges from 1998 to the present. It’s high/low based on twelve annual samples. This product provides a pair of annual estimates for each sampling point, known as high load, and low load. The difference between the high and low load estimates is owing to the way in which the samples with results at the 'limit of detection' are treated. The limit of detection is the lowest concentration of a substance that can be reliably measured - any real concentration lower than this level, including zero, is reported as being present at 'less than' the limit of detection concentration. Where the substance has been analysed for but the concentration is below the limit of detection, a calculation can be made assuming that it is not present at all (a low load estimate). Alternatively, a calculation can be made by assuming that the substance is present exactly at the limit of detection (a high load estimate). The low load calculation gives an optimistic estimate of the real load, whereas the high load calculation gives a pessim istic estimate. The real load discharged will be somewhere between these two figures.